REVIEWS
PIANO RECITALS AND BOOK TALKS
SAT SEPT 29th 2018 - from Charles Pavey, Director of Music at Holy Trinity Church, North Malvern: ‘Elizabeth performed a short recital as part of the Holy Trinity, Malvern's Music Marathon Day. Her programme, which was well constructed and varied, created another level of contrast to the whole day and was thoroughly prepared. She engaged with the appreciative audience and this added to her professional presentation. But above all, it was her total mastery of the instrument that shone through most.'
FEB. 2019 A lunchtime concert at Chapel Arts, Cheltenham from Andrew Auster, Chairman of the Cheltenham Music Festival Society ‘Congratulations Elizabeth on a splendid concert … All 36 attendees (I counted!) thoroughly enjoyed your programme. I particularly liked the Bloch ‘Poems of the Sea’, pieces I did not know, and a far more enjoyable experience than when listening to Bloch accompanying the Dentist’s drill ... in my teenage years!... Thank you again for agreeing to perform at such short notice.'
SEPT. 2019 from William Griffiths, Rugby Warwickshire ‘Elizabeth Tebby Germaine gave a lunchtime piano recital at St Andrew’s Church in September 2019. Her programme was a carefully selected and varied sequence of classic piano repertoire, from Bach’s 48 to Percy Grainger’s Irish reels. Between these bookends she gave us Schumann’s “In der Nacht” and Chopin’s Nocturne in F# major, “two pieces associated with the night”, followed by Ravel’s Jeux d’eau. With her sympathetic brief spoken introductions to each section, Elizabeth achieved a very satisfying and enjoyable entertainment. The audience was delighted to meet a deeply musical artist and looks forward to further visits from this very intelligent pianist.’
BOOK TALKS
contact information on www.speakernet.co.uk
extracts of my books can be read on www.FeedARead.com and Amazon
from: Dr Rona Laycock, poet, creative writing teacher, editor of Graffiti and founder of Writers in the Brewery, Cirencester 'Elizabeth Tebby Germaine headlines at Writers in the Brewery, 28 March. We were delighted to welcome Elizabeth to our meeting at Writers in the Brewery... She kept us intrigued and enthralled by her account of her writing progress and readings from her novel. It was lovely to have a guest who connected with the group and who was able to encourage and answer questions and who managed all that with great good humour.'
TWO TALKS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (also on Zoom)
EXTRACTS FROM ACCOUNTS OF DANGEROUS JOURNEYS IN BURMA WW2, with many historic photos
SCARY AND STARTLING – what I discovered about China when exploring accounts from my family
What has always interested me are the human stories told against the backdrop of dramatic and dangerous years in the Far East. I inherited and was also given significant material and photographs which relate to Burma and China, countries of great interest as we move through the 21st century. With the China talk I have discovered additional material since I wrote the book ‘Lives in Burma and China 1927 -1951’.
REVIEWS
After a talk to the U3A Earlsdon, Coventry, from Dave and Sue Wright,Joint speaker secretary 'We would like to express our sincere gratitude for your talk on experiences in Burma. It was a fascinating talk regarding a very difficult time in history. It was even more poignant due to your personal involvement with the subject. I am sure it was appreciated by all members present and expanded all our knowledge of Burma and its troubled past and present. Thanks again.'
November 2019 from C.J.Boyd - Cheltenham Probus Club member: “Elizabeth gave us an interesting and informative talk on China in the Second World War, illustrated with helpful maps. Her presentation also provided a valuable insight into the broader history of China in the first half of the 20th Century.”
November 2019, from John Higgins, Newent U3A "Thanks to Elizabeth for providing an insight into one of the little-known aspects of World War 2, the military and civilian evacuation of Burma following the Japanese invasion. This was all the more poignant due to her family involvement in the arduous escape. Illustrated with plentiful, and probably quite rare, photographs from the time. This was a talk to make many of us reflect on the horrors of that part of our history."
March 2021 - from the Chairman of Cannock and District Probus Club “It was an excellent, eye-opening Talk, very much appreciated by the Members. The very personal detailed family accounts, with rare original photos, gave us images both of everyday life and an insight to the history and refugee journeys from Burma during WW2.”
and from Chris Gooch - ‘Your talk on wartime Burma was much appreciated by our members. It is often called “the forgotten war” and most of us know little about it. It was also very relevant to current events. It also evoked memories for my wife whose family lost a man who was a Chindit who sadly never emerged from the jungle and has no known grave.’
From Alan Smith, Press Officer Evesham Probus Club,‘Our speaker on 18th May 2023 was Elizabeth Tebby Germaine whose subject was the travails which befell her Aunt Marian in China in the turbulent years of the 1920s and 1930s up to 1943… The times were brought to life by graphic photographs and the few surviving letters from Marian… Any accounts of world events which are witnessed first hand by one’s relatives are much more vivid than mere accounts recording facts. Members were appreciative of this presentation of the massive upheavals in China, a vast country which has transformed itself into a major economic powerhouse but unfortunately keeps a tight rein on personal liberty.’
MY FIRST BOOK - 'Lives in Burma and China 1927 - 1951'
This was my first book, originally with the title 'Distant and Dangerous Days in Burma and China'. Now a revised paperback and Kindle (some photos are on the PHOTOS FROM BOOKS 1 page) With true stories from civil wars and WW2, based on many original documents and including unique accounts from Burmese and Karen people of their experiences during the Japanese occupation, and with over 100 original photos taken by my aunt.
Here is an introduction from an early version written in 2011 when the Burmese military government were still in power. Although I wrote another introduction later this reminds me of how it felt early on in the writing process.
This book is a precarious structure built on fragments of memories. However I hope these memories are striking and unusual enough to justify the brief accounts of history surrounding them…The material I acquired revealed people in dangerous situations and what I decided to use to link it all together is what I found to be significant and interesting. A great deal is not included, and the more I have read about these countries and this period of history the more I have been aware that I have ‘skated over the surface’ of events. My intention is to share in an objective way the material I acquired which connects with terrible events both past and present in countries far removed from my own experience.
MY SECOND BOOK
‘Stories of Survival in Burma WW2’ I was given more material that linked directly with accounts of tens of thousands of refugees of many races who fled from the Japanese Invasion of Burma in 1941/2. This coincided with the military retreat during the first stages of the Burma Campaign.